Chapter 7: Affection, Originally Faint

Delphine returned to her lodging in the early hours of dawn. Sleepless through the night, she had envisioned every possible scenario, yet the one she hadn't anticipated was encountering Ignatius Leclair the moment she stepped into the Leclair Family residence—or that he would use Little Zhen to threaten her.

She now had nothing left—no value to exploit. She couldn't fathom Ignatius Leclair's intentions.

Half-conscious, she drifted into sleep. When she woke, it was already noon the next day. Her phone, dead, needed charging. As soon as it powered on, there were multiple missed calls. Barely a few minutes had passed before the phone began ringing again.

She answered, and a servant's voice came through: "Madam, Miss Carter's call is connected."

"Delphine Carter." Mrs. Carter took over the call, her tone both anxious and angry. "You're back? Why didn't you let me know?"

Delphine remained silent. She hadn't informed anyone of her return to Nanyang. Yet within one night, Ignatius Leclair had already discovered her whereabouts, and clearly Mrs. Carter had heard too—obviously through him.

By the end of her words, Mrs. Carter's tone carried a faint sense of defeat.

"I'm sorry," Delphine said softly, yet besides those words, it seemed there was nothing more to say to her own biological mother.

"I've already had the servants prepare a room for you. You're to return to the Leclair residence today. The elderly master has been resting in Switzerland these past few years. As long as Ignatius Leclair doesn't object, I'll speak to your Uncle Leclair—it'll be fine." Mrs. Carter finished the hurried speech, and faintly, the sound of servants arranging new furniture could also be heard on her end.

After a few seconds of silence, Delphine asked plainly, "Is Little Zhen ill?"

No sooner had she spoken than she heard Mrs. Carter's voice sharply rise in pitch.

"In any case, you're coming back to the Leclair residence today. After all these years, abandoning me and Little Zhen so cruelly—did you ever stop to think about how difficult life became for us afterward?"

Delphine didn't remind her that she had been driven out of Nanyang.

"I'll come back this afternoon." She let out a low, self-deprecating chuckle before ending the call.

By the time she arrived at the Leclair residence, it was already past dinner. Delphine placed her modest luggage in the guest room, running her hands over the understated yet luxurious redwood furniture. It wasn't until she saw Mrs. Carter walk in with a fruit platter that the reality of her return truly sank in.

When mother and daughter reunited, there was no excitement, no tears, and barely any joy. After setting the fruit platter on the table, Mrs. Carter gazed at her and remarked pensively, "It's good that you're back. Sometimes I wonder, ever since your grandmother passed, whether bringing you here to the Leclair residence was the right decision or not."

"Delphine, do you resent your mother?" Mrs. Carter waited until they were alone, clutching her hand with earnest eyes, choking on her words. "It's my fault; I owe you an apology."

Delphine withdrew her hand, looking at her mother—still radiant, still pampered despite being over forty—and quietly responded, "No, I don't."

"This time, now that you've returned, don't leave again. I'll make proper plans for your future." Mrs. Carter's tone was filled with satisfaction as she patted her hand.

Delphine lifted her lips into a faint smile but said nothing, lowering her gaze to veil the sharp mockery in her eyes. She had no future to plan anymore.

After a brief exchange between mother and daughter, Mrs. Carter left in a flurry of activity, and Delphine tidied up the room casually. Curling herself up on the carpet, she lay there listening to the faint sounds of servants treading softly, Mrs. Carter's voice in the distance, and the spring breeze rustling the branches outside in the garden.

Her childhood environment had been simple. She had grown up in the countryside with her grandmother, in a poor household where she learned how to cook at a very young age. Her grandmother's house had a large pond filled with lotus roots, and when the lotus roots matured, she would help her grandmother pull them from the mud, clean them, and sell them at the town market.

She felt grateful for those years spent with her grandmother. It was those experiences that gave her the resilience to tolerate all the deceit and pain she encountered in the garish and soulless confines of Nanyang later on.

The Leclair residence ran on a strict schedule. By nine in the evening, only the nightlights in the side hall remained lit. Waiting for the noises outside to gradually fade away, Delphine checked the time before stepping out. Her bedroom was on the first floor, converted from an old storage room—close to the garden, shrouded in quiet serenity.

The side hall glowed softly under the nightlight. Delphine circled the space once. The former reception room had been turned into a tea room with a Japanese-style ambiance and a newly installed fireplace. She deduced that Ignatius Leclair must've been behind these changes. Over the past few years, the elderly master had been recuperating in Switzerland, and Stone Leclair rarely involved himself in the estate's affairs. Ignatius, as the eldest heir, had been calling all the shots.

The first night back at the Leclair residence was bound to be a sleepless one, especially given Delphine's severe insomnia—she couldn't sleep before 1 a.m. She took her laptop to a secluded corner of the garden and began scrolling through her emails.

She had barely sat down when the iron gate swung open, signaling someone's entry. More than one person.